I AM looking for advice about a situation you've probably had to deal with: a superior employee. You can't fire yourself, so what's the solution? Do you keep a lid on the employee's performance, or hope the organisation doesn't figure out your underling is better than you are?

Richard Ginnaty, Orange, California.

A How about this? You celebrate. The best thing that can happen to you as a boss . . . and you're right, it has happened to both of us . . . is hiring a person who is smarter, more creative or in some way more talented than you are. It's like winning the lottery. Suddenly, you've got a team member whose talent will very likely improve everyone's performance and reputation . . . including yours.

Yes, it's human nature to feel as you do: fearful that a 'superior' employee could make you look, well, inferior, and perhaps slow down your career progress. But in reality, the exact opposite usually occurs. The reason is that leaders are generally not judged on their personal output. What would be the point of evaluating them like individual contributors?

Rather, most leaders are judged on how well they've hired, coached and motivated their people, individually and collectively. All that shows up in the results. When you sign up top performers and release their energy, you don't look bad. You look like the goose that laid the golden egg.

So keep laying them. It is a rare company that doesn't love a boss who finds great people and creates an environment where they flourish, and you don't have to be the smartest person in the room to do that. Indeed, when you consistently demonstrate that leadership skill, and come to be known as the person in your company who can land and build the best, watch your career take off.

Now, we're not saying managing 'superior' employees on your team is necessarily easy. Your question, in fact, reminds us of one we received in Chicago several years ago, from an audience member who said two of his seven direct reports were smarter than he was, and asked, "How can I possibly appraise them?"

"What the heck happened to the other five?" was our attempt at a light-hearted response. But we took his point. How in the world do you evaluate people who you feel are more talented than you?

You don't. That is, you don't evaluate them on their intelligence or particular skill set. Of course, you talk about what they are doing well, but just as important, you focus on areas in which they can improve. It is no secret that some very smart people have trouble, for instance, relating to colleagues or being open to other people's ideas. Indeed, some struggle with becoming leaders themselves. And that is where your experience and self-confidence come into play and your coaching can really help.

In that way, then, managing superior employees is just like managing regular types. You have everything to gain from celebrating their growth and nothing at all to fear.

Q

AFTER 61 years as a family business, our company was just sold to a $250m corporation. We will keep our name and operate as an independent business unit, and everyone will keep their jobs. In effect, everything is the same, but we know it's not. How do I, as president, and my employees make the quickest and most appropriate adjustment to our new world?

Bing J Carbone, Bridgeport, Connecticut A Congratulations. . . and congratulations. The first for the deal itself . . . you and your top team probably did pretty well cashing out, and you should feel great about the financial rewards of building a company that the market loved.

The second congratulations is for realising that, although everything might look the same, nothing will be in future. You've been acquired. You and your people now work for someone else. And even if that someone else likes you very much, it will have its own way of doing things. The human resources department will have a new way of appraising people. Finance will have a new way of formatting the numbers. And so on. There will be new processes, policies and procedures galore.

And so, to answer your question, the quickest and most appropriate way for you to adjust is: buy in. You don't have to stifle yourself. But your energy about change should be positive and any criticisms constructive. No "but we used to. . ." and "it was better in the old days" moaning and groaning. Very bluntly, you gave away that right with the cashout.

We realise that being acquired is one of the most traumatic upheavals a company can live through. For you personally, money may have taken any sting out.

But if you want your people and organisation to thrive, as clearly you do, then your message has to be simple.

The past is over; get with the new.

Jack and Suzy Welch are the authors of the international best-seller Winning. They are eager to hear about your career dilemmas and challenges at work, and look forward to answering your questions in future columns. You can email them questions at Winning@nytimes. com. Please include your name, occupation, city and country.